Jerry Jeff Walker is strongly associated with the progressive ("outlaw")
country scene that centered around Austin, Texas, in the 1970s and included such
figures as
Willie Nelson,
Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, the Lost Gonzo Band, Waylon Jennings,and
Townes Van Zandt.
Ironically, however,
Jerry Jeff Walker is not a native Texan. He was born Ronald Clyde Crosby in upstate New
York and recorded his first several albums while living in New York City. He
didn't move to Austin until 1971, but he's remained a major figure in the area
ever since.
Jerry Jeff Walker has been quoted as saying, "the first time I set foot in Texas,
particularly in Austin, I knew I was home."
Jerry Jeff Walker first recorded with the folk-rock group
Circus Maximus for Vanguard in 1967. The band split after its second album,
and
Jerry Jeff Walker signed with Atco and released his first solo album, Mr. Bojangles, in
1968. He is, for better or worse, best known as the writer of "Mr. Bojangles,"
an enduring pop classic he wrote at the after meeting a street singer named Bill
"Bojangles" Robinson in a New Orleans drunk tank. His version of "Bojangles"
never hit it big, but
the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's rendition made the Top Ten of the pop charts in
1971.
In 1972 Walker signed with Decca/MCA and released a self-titled album that
included his version of
Guy Clark's "L.A. Freeway," and "That Old Time Feeling," along with his own
"Hill Country Rain," his reputation for being a "gypsy songman" found its roots
in this outing. His best-known album from the period, however, however, is Viva
Terlingua, which he recorded in 1973 in the tiny Texas town of Luckenbach with
the Lost Gonzo Band. The album went gold, and it's his biggest-selling album
to date. His subsequent recordings of the 1970s, particularly It's A Good Night
For Singing, Ridin' High and A Man Must Carry On solidified Walker's reputation
for being not only a great songwriter, but a wonderful interpreter of the work
of his peers, and for being the greatest example of the living embodiment of
"cosmic cowboyism."
Jerry Jeff Walker was a hard partier throughout much of his career (his friends called
him "Jacky Jack"), and this reputation became part of his identity. He's since
cleaned up his act -- in part thanks to his wife, Susan, whom he married in 1974
-- and he's continued to record steadily into the 1990s. He released a couple
albums on Elektra/Asylum in the late '70s, but remained mostly with MCA until
his 1982 album Cowboy Jazz -- a record that became his last for any major label.
The Elektra recordings, Jerry Jeff and Too Old Too Change were undervalued
during their heyday, and have been proved to be among his most adventurous and
enduring recordings thanks to a Wounded Bird twofer reissue on CD in 2003.
Jerry Jeff Walker as evidenced by these recordings, was the only one of his peers
--with the possible exception of Willie Nelson-- who unrelentingly sought change
and development in his sound. It didn't help with a country music industry
completely hoodwinked by (sub)urban cowboyism and a pop market less receptive to
organic American music than at any time in its history. In 1985, however, he
showed the industry he could live without their help and released the first of a
series of self-made cassettes, Gypsy Songman, many of which he sold via a
mailing list that has grown to more than 40,000 strong. In 1987
Jerry Jeff Walker worked out a deal with Rykodisc that released his CDs until 1996 when
their partnership ended. He has since continued to market his material on True &
True through his web site and live shows. While
Jerry Jeff Walker's Tried & True issues have not been as critically regarded as his
earlier work, they are compelling, occasionally brilliant, always written from
the perspective of where his gypsy songman is at this particular musical moment.
In 1991 and 1992
Jerry Jeff Walker hosted the weekly TV show, The Texas Connection, on TNN. In 1993 he
returned to Luckenbach for an anniversary recording that became the album Viva
Luckenbach!
Jerry Jeff Walker's birthday is a major celebration in Austin every March, when he
plays several shows in different local clubs and theaters. In 1999 he published
an autobiography, Gypsy Songman, accompanied by an LP of the same name.
Jerry Jeff Walker's most recent release, Jerry Jeff Jazz showcases him singing jazz pop
and swing standards in front of a small tightly knit combo. While his voice has
lost of its pliability in recent years, it nonetheless suits the gorgeous, homey
quality of this recording; it is his finest moment on record in over a decade.
Apparently this old coyote still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. ~ Kurt Wolf
& Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
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